Texting is a great way to communicate and teenagers are doing just that. New research shows that on average, teens are sending 2,000 text messages a month, and doctors say it’s causing injuries.
13-year-old Bailey Baker keeps using her thumbs, sending text messages to her friends again and again. The past March may have been her best month ever, texting 8,000 times. Now, she says she’s feeling the pain. “Just mainly back and neck problems and thumb numbness,” she says.
Baylor-Garland Dr. Jane Sadler is seeing more and more teens who simply text until it hurts. She says parents, including Bailey’s mom, have no idea how much their kids are texting. “I was thinking she was texting about 25 texts a day,” says Lisa Baker. “Wrong! We’ve uncovered a problem.” It didn’t take Dr. Sadler long to find the problem. She gave Bailey the once-over and learnt that Bailey had developed Texting Teen Tendinitis(肌腱炎)
“A lot of them report pain in their thumbs, back and neck,” says Dr. Sadler. “When we look into it and examine a little bit further, we see texting is the main cause of the problem.” Dr. Sadler says back pain is caused by poor posture while texting. Bailey often texts for up to 2 hours a day; that’s a lot of wear and tear on the thumbs which over time, can break down. Dr. Sadler tells over-texting teens to look into the future. “What I tell them is ‘Hey, you might be normal now, but when you are 40 or 50, you can get arthritis (关节炎).’”
Dr. Sadler recommends limiting texting to 50 a day, and keeping good posture. Dr. Sadler also says touch screens are easier on the thumbs than keyboards and hand exercises are great to build up those muscles, making it easier to text.
1. How many text messages did Bailey Baker send a day on average last month?
A. Less than 226. B. About 230. C. About 267. D. More than 300.
2. Because of texting, Bailey Baker suffers from the following problems EXCEPT ______.
A. back pain B. neck pain C. headache D. thumb numbness
3. What does the underlined part in Paragraph 3 mean?
A. She gave Bailey Baker a quick examination.
B. She solved Bailey Baker’s problem at once.
C. She gave Bailey Baker a piece of advice.
D. She let Bailey Baker send a text message again.
4. What can we conclude from Paragraph 4?
A. Teenagers won’t get hurt if they stop texting right now.
B. Poor posture while texting is the main cause of injuries.
C. Thumbs won’t ache if teens text for no more than 2 hours a day.
D. Over-texting may have a bad effect on people in the long run.
IV. 阅读理解（30%）
The future is time that is to come. The future is not the present or the past. It is later. We have seen many possible futures in science fiction. They range from the world’s polar ice caps melting to nuclear winters. But not all futures are this morbid. We have seen the human race spread all over our universe, humans and aliens living in harmony together all over the universe.
It is very likely that we will make some kind of breakthrough in our ability to travel through space sometime in the next 150 years. This would give us the ability to rule other planets. Ultimately, the earth will die whether it be 1,000 years or 100,000 years. We will be forced to move to another planet then. It’s really just a matter of time. When we do so, what will we discover?
Personally, I think everyone will be speaking the same language in 200 years. A world government definitely seems to be in our future. It is stable and has few wars. Indeed, the only type of wars that can happen is the civil war.
And what if we face aliens? If they are friendly, we would probably benefit a lot from putting our knowledge together. They must have advanced technology to travel for great distances. We could seriously benefit from their technology. But if they aren’t friendly, then we are in trouble. Hope that we have become advanced enough, smart enough, and generally a better race by the time we meet them. But this is all probably being discussed for nothing, because any race out there among the stars is probably as curious as we are about other creatures.
1. The underlined word in Paragraph 1 can be replaced by ___________.
A. unpleasant B. shocking C. expected D. serious
2. What will humans do if the earth dies?
A. Humans have to face death. B. Humans will travel and live in space.
C. Humans will move to another planet. D. Humans will go back to the past time.
3. According to the author, the following statements are right about aliens EXCEPT that _________.
A. we can learn from aliens if they are friendly
B. when aliens arrive, humans will be smarter than them
C. aliens may be as curious as we human beings about other planets
D. aliens have more advanced technology than us
4. After reading the passage, we can know that the passage is based on_________.
A. scientific facts B. time and space
C. advanced technology D. the author’s imagination
III. 完形填空（20%）
In order to be a success in the American business world, you must “get along” with people. You must learn to behave yourself in a way ___31___ you earn the affection (喜爱)and respect of others. ___32___ we have already pointed out, Americans ___33___ business and pleasure. Therefore, learning how to ___34___ informally can be a help with your American business___35___. Americans like to talk about a number of different ___36___—sports, politics, cars, popular movies and television shows and personal interests.
Many large American cities have sports teams. If you are ___37___ with Americans in the United States, it would be a good idea to ___38___ out about the local sports teams so that you can ___39___ the almost inevitable (不可避免的) discussions about “what our ___40___ will do this year.” Politics can be a ___41___ topic unless everyone is of the same mind ___42___. Limit your discussions to asking questions of your friends. Most Americans are ___43___owners and some are even crazy about the subject. You can participate___44___ talking about cars you have owned or by __45___information you have read in automotive magazines. Americans watch television almost every night and attend movies regularly, ___46___ naturally TV programs and the ___47___ movies become topics for discussions. If you are unable to ___48___ American television or attend American movies, reading the ___49___section of such magazine as Time and Newsweek will keep you up to date on ___50___ is popular in America.
31. A. which B. where C. how D. that
32. A. While B. Since C. As D. Because
33. A. mix B. enjoy C. like D. manage
34. A. conduct B. appear C. behave D. chat
35. A. friends B. efforts C. contacts D. companies
36. A. persons B. titles C. businesses D. topics
37. A. meeting B. working C. living D. playing
38. A. find B. learn C. go D. stay
39. A. work on B. join in C. succeed in D. break in
40. A. group B. business C. company D. team
41. A. common B. sensitive C. special D. daily
42. A. politically B. economically C. professionally D. personally
43. A. house B. car C. business D. land
44. A. in B. toward C. by D. through
45. A. collecting B. sharing C. gathering D. analyzing
46. A. so B. but C. however D. moreover
47. A. most interesting B. most exciting C. newest D. latest
48. A. witness B. look C. watch D. glance
49. A. entertainmentB. sports C. business D. movie
50. A. which B. that C. what D. as
–How about going to Beijing for our holidays?
–That’s splendid. ___________.
A. It’s really hot. B. It’s none of my business.
C. I’m with you on that. D. I’m looking forward to it.
There are many mistakes in your composition and ________, it needs improving.
A. so B. then C. yet D. therefore
Sixty people were _______ from the burning ship, but a great many more were drowned when it sank.
A. protected B. prevented C. rescued D. escaped
